Vikings’ head coach Brad Childress was asked yesterday following three days of mini-camp for impressions of second year center John Sullivan who is trying to replace Matt Birk: “Just about what I expected. He can hold his own in there. He can direct that line the way he needs to. He’ll have to work with (Anthony) Herrera on his right when Anthony comes back. But all good work by him, too; very minimal mental and physical errors.”
Is Childress comfortable with Sullivan as a starter? “I am comfortable with him,” Childress said. “We have seen (Jon) Cooper jump in there. We have seen Ryan (Cook) jump in there. So there are a number of guys (who can play center). Anthony Herrera can play in there. So, yeah, I am comfortable with that.”
Childress was asked how much more dangerous his offense can be with No. 1 pick Percy Harvin, the explosive wide receiver from Florida. “Well, I just think anytime you talk about (Percy Harvin in terms of) football, you talk about explosion and somebody that can take it the distance when it (the play) is blocked the right way and when it gets in his hands. There is no such thing as too many of those guys, whether it is a tight end, a running back, a wide out, or a quarterback. I just think it just adds another piece. It can be more explosive, but that is up to us to put the ball in his hands.”
The Wolves will be working out the following potential draft choices today at Target Center in preparation for the NBA draft later this month: USC guard Daniel Hackett, Ohio State center B.J. Mullens, Utah center Luke Nevill, Israeli forward Omri Casspi, North Carolina forward Danny Green, Connecticut guard A.J. Price, UCLA guard Darren Collison, Villanova forward Dante Cunningham, Texas A&M forward Chinemelu Elonu, Georgia Tech forward Gani Lawal and Gonzaga forward Austin Daye.
Congratulations to long time tennis volunteers Joan Baker, Sue Gregor and Dick Riley on being selected for the United States Tennis Association Northern Hall of Fame.
Author Jim Holden has four book signings this week for Tennis in the Northland, a comprehensive history of boys high school tennis in Minnesota. Tomorrow from 8 to 11:30 a.m. he will be at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center, the south Minneapolis site of the Class A boys state tournament. Also, from 12:30 to 4 p.m. tomorrow he will be at the Baseline Tennis Center on the University of Minnesota campus, the site of the Class AA tourney. On Thursday he will be back at both sites at the same times as Tuesday. https://www.jim-holden.com/